Olympic Park

An Olympic Park is basically a sports campus that hosts Olympic Games. However, 1992 and 2010 Winter Games were exceptions as there were no Olympic Parks and the venues were widely dispersed. However, London has traditionally been known for its adherence to conventions. Quite expectedly, London has built a grand and splendid Olympic Park for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Situated on the east of the city, adjacent to the Stratford City development, the recently constructed Olympics Park is to be named as Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park post the XXXth Olympiad, to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has created around 250 acres of new parklands from former industrial land. The Olympic Parklands accommodates about 4,000 semi-mature trees, more than 300,000 wetland plants and greater than ten football fields' worth nectar-rich annual and perennial meadows. Quite evidently, this grand arena will certainly impart colorful atmosphere to the London 2012 Games.

Olympic Park 2012 London Olympics

Olympic Park - An Overview
The Park was designed by the EDAW Consortium (including EDAW and Buro Happold), in collaboration with Arup and WS Atkins. In the initial biddings of London's Olympic and Paralympic, it was proposed that there would be four arenas in the Olympic Park. However, a revised plan soon appeared in 2006 and the number of arena were reduced to three as it proposed to shift volleyball to Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Later, the fencing arena was also removed from the park and is now due to be held at ExCeL. According to the final plans, the park will now constitute arenas such as Aquatic Center, Basketball Arena, BMX Track, Handball Arena, Hockey Center, Olympic Stadium, Velodrome, Water Polo Arena, Copper Box, Riverbank Arena and Eton Manor.Besides there will also be an Olympic village to lodge the athletes inside the Olympic Park. While the southern part of the Park is designed to set-off the festal ambience of this mega sporting event with gardens, riverside, bars, markets and cafes, the northern part with its picturesque greenery is meant to offer a tranquil public space and a habitat for hundreds of existing and rare species such as kingfishers and otters.

How To Reach The Park
The Olympic Park will be served by public transport as there is Stratford and Stratford International stations on the east side of the Park and West Ham station to the south. For the spectators, the park will open 90 minutes prior to the start of the first session of the day.

After The Games
After the games, while some of the new arenas will stay including the Aquatics Centre, there are some that will undergo radical make over. The Basketball Arena, which seats 12,000, will be dismantled as the games are over. According to certain sources the Rio 2016 planning committee is willing to purchase and transport the arena. The swimming facility is also due for change. Whereas the 50-metre pool will remain, the temporary seating arrangement will be removed, leaving room for around 2,500 people.The Olympic Village will be converted into 3,600 apartments in the Stratford City development.

The Olympics are the greatest sporting event on the globe and an Olympic Park has been a conventional cluster of arenas. The design of the Olympic Park must commensurate the stature of the event in all its grandeur and resplendence and apparently the London Olympic park certainly lives up to the expectations.